2010
by Sam I Am the gate fan
Summary: An alteration to the ending of the Episode ‘2010’. What if it wasn’t only a note that came through from the future?


2010

By Sam I Am – 

Rating: PG (can't honestly be any more than that)

Warnings: Sam/Jack (that's a warning for anyone who don't like that) also Daniel/Janet implied. Major Character death.

Category: Character death (but no more than the actual episode!), Sam/Jack Romance, implied Daniel/Janet, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Future (as with the actual episode!)

Spoilers: Spoilers for '2010'

Summary: An alteration to the ending of the Episode '2010'. What if it wasn't only a note that came through from the future?

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime / Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. No copyright infringement is intended. No money is being made. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission. If you want to archive my story TELL ME, or, to borrow a phrase from our beloved Colonel, I am SO gonna kick your ass!

Author's Notes: While watching 2010, I realized there were still LOADS of issues Future Sam and Jack needed to talk about. So... I twiddled with the ending a little and also added a scene into the '2010' storyline, and WHAM! They have a chance to talk. Sometimes I surprise even me!

Dedications: As usual, this is for my Best pal/editor! You're an absolute angel and I couldn't have done half of this without you, Babez! So, Ta! By the way, Hon... Squeamish Archaeologist?!?!? Also, as usual, I dedicate this to all you S/J shippers out there. All of you who provide fan fiction, music vids, wallpapers, cartoons, humorous screen caps, transcripts, and anything else that brighten up my dull existence! Thanks a Bazillion! Luv, Hugz and Jelly Babies to everyone I know and in fact to anyone who reads this! MWAH!

So here it is... 2010!

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Jack stood nervously waiting for Teal'c to arrive. He tapped his fingers on the banister over looking the Gate as he watched Dr. Fraiser leave through the shimmering circle. He pretended not to notice the sad look flung between her and a certain Archaeologist, as they waved goodbye and she walked up the flashing steps, sickeningly commercial, and stepped through the event horizon. Chances were that changing the past would mean Daniel and her never had their 10 years of happiness.

He glanced at his watch as the Gate disengaged. Four minutes until Teal'c arrived and he dialled out again.

'_That gives me four minutes to get ready to die,' _Jack thought to himself,_ 'Well, there's a pleasant thought if ever there was one!'_

The weight of the bag in his right hand seemed to get heavier as he stood there. They were going to change Earth's history. It was the right thing to do even though Jack was slightly scared. He knew that SG-1 would have to die to do it.

'_Well, everyone in SG-1 except Sam!'_

Yes. Ever since that day they'd all turned their backs on him so long ago, Jack had started calling her Sam, in his head at least. At first he'd been heart broken that she trusted those Aschen bastards over him.

'_Oh well! I was right for once in my life. The Aschen are up to no good! Talk about Irony!'_ Jack mentally kicked himself, _'Damn! That sounded awfully like a cliché!'_

After the hurtful feeling of being betrayed left, he'd begun to feel angry. Angry that the only people he cared about could brush aside his warnings as carelessly as they had. They were his family, people he treasured and trusted with all his heart, and they'd ignored him like yesterday's news. They'd all said the Aschen were Earth's saviours and yet again they were more Earth's destroyers than saviours.

After two years of solitude, he'd begun to miss them. He remembered thinking that maybe he'd wrong about the Aschen and that he should call his friends and apologise. He needed them and he'd hoped they needed him to. He'd hoped she needed him.

That was just before he received the wedding invitation. Then the heart broken feeling replenished itself within him. He didn't reply to the invitation and decided against contacting his friends, but the worst thing of all was he began to hate Samantha Carter with everything that made him up and it ate him away. He began to hate her, to banish every dream he'd ever had of her coming to him. He'd never realised her and that goddamn politician had gotten so close. Not until the wedding invite. Not until it shattered every hope he'd ever had to hold Samantha Carter in his arms and to be allowed to love her with every atom that made up his body...

He had loved her. He did love her. And yet she married that smarmy Ambassador, who was the same as all politicians. He'd noticed from the moment Joe had shown up, strutting into the SGC to begin discussions with the Aschen. He'd almost flung himself over the beautiful Major in a blink of an eye. That wasn't too bad, Jack could cope with that. It was same with every other man that met his gorgeous 2IC.

'_Eyes wide, tongues hanging out, slobbering all over her... the usual. At least I could keep my cool slightly better than those drooling morons!' _

He'd thought it would be fine because he knew that at least some of her feelings lay with him. Obviously he'd been wrong. Joe he could cope with, but the fact she'd been flirting back had hurt. And now she was his wife. And it hurt.

They'd had a silent pact, or so he'd thought. A pact that meant that after the war was over they could finally be together and they would wait for that moment for a long as they had to. Instead, Sam had married Ambassador Joe and left him to his lonely cabin and that pond with no pesky fish in it!

"Thank you Samantha Carter for breaking my heart yet again!" Jack muttered to himself sarcastically, his jaw gritted.

He let out a sigh as he thought sadly, _'Take that back, O'Neill. You know it's damn unfair to blame her for all this.'_

He nodded slowly to himself. He'd gone off into one of his sour moods again, blaming it all on her even now, after some of the damage had been repaired. Jack, naturally, had blamed most of it on himself. Being out of contact for so long and all, but then he realised that they had driven him away. He may have overreacted slightly, even though now Jack knew his overreacting had been justified, but they had been the ones who had betrayed him. Betrayed the man who was willing to sacrifice his life for them.

'_They weren't supposed to take it literally!'_

He had given up his life because of their stupid mistake. He'd given up everything but the cabin. His job, his house, his livelihood, even his goddamn friends...

He'd never ever spoken to them about it. He'd never told them how much he cared about them, but he hadn't needed to. There had always been an unspoken understanding between them. They all knew they would throw away their existence if it meant saving another member of their team. So he had continued to care for them from afar, hidden away in his cabin. He'd made sure to rebel against all the Aschen policies...

'_Well, I always was one stubborn offspring of a female canine!'_

He was one of the only people in the world that still owned a vehicle of any description, his dear old truck which was looking extremely worse for wear due to the extinction of mechanics and gas stations. Instead of using their transporter devices he made a point of using the truck, though not very often as the roads were slowly becoming the kind of thing tour buses stop to look at...

'_And to your left we have Route 66. Can anyone tell me about this famous highway...?'_

With that thought his mind wandered back to the SGC/Disney Land Resort that he'd been exposed to the day before! He was surprised they didn't have men strutting around in big, shiny, grey costumes shaking little children's hands and saying in a comic voice, 'Greetings Earthling! I am Thor, leader of the Asguard! Take me to your Leader!' It was ridiculous, stupid, absurd, bizarre and... not her personal favourite team!?! That woman had a lot of nerve. Didn't she know she was actually offending his team... in front of him!

He didn't look that much different from he had... OK, so that was a load of bullshit! Another one of his rebellions against those crummy Aliens was he'd not taken any of the vaccines and so unlike most of the world had aged in those 10 years of solitude. Not only had he aged physically, but also mentally. His horrid life had finally begun to take its toll on him. He'd begun to get depressed more often and had spent many nights stood outside hacking at a piece of wood with his axe as if fighting away all the negative feelings that had been haunting him for 10 years.

He'd been hacking a piece of wood that day. It was yet another one of those dark depressive days, even though made slightly better by the pleasant weather and bright sunlight. Even though slightly improved he had yet again considered the quick way out. It was obvious to him his friends didn't care and that they would never call. Probably also due to his own stubbornness not to call, Jack decided, but he had still hoped they would've sent him some message or something.

But there had been no message and Jack had begun to seriously consider suicide. It wouldn't matter any way. Maybe at least that way his friends would seriously reconsidered what they'd done to him. What they'd driven him to...

He'd begun to hack at the wood harder and harder knowing that within the next 24hrs he would crack. After breaking his axe and sighing angrily he'd turned around the corner to carry on untangling one of his many fishing lines...

And then she arrived...

The first second he saw her he thought he'd been dreaming. She hadn't changed a bit. Of course she wouldn't have, as her and the rest of the world now had doubled their life spans by taken the Aschen vaccine, but it seemed like a memory come to haunt him. If it hadn't been for her slight change in fashion sense and the age he could see in the depths of those stunning blue eyes she could've been a memory.

For ten years, memories had been all he had of her, all of his pictures and photographs having been taken by Daniel when Jack had threatened to burn them all. Daniel had been the only one to come talk to him and, despite his diplomatic reasoning skills, had only infuriated Jack more and had in fact made the rift between Jack and his friends wider... well, except for in Jack's head.

Some days he'd just sit on his porch staring out at the beautiful landscape around his hideaway and imagine them, his friends, all forgiving him and apologising in equal amounts. He'd imagine that they'd all go to O'Malley's for a steak and then watch Star Wars, the only Sci-Fi movie Jack was willing to watch due to Teal'c's frequent pestering on the subject of his most beloved Chewbacca. And then Sam would smile at him and she'd still be his friend. She'd be somewhere in his life again...

Jack decided long ago his imagination was dangerous.

But that day she hadn't been his imagination. There was no way he could've imagined her anywhere near as beautiful. She always looked like she should be part of some glorious dream in his eyes, but seeing her stood before him again and somehow knowing she was real seemed to make his heart stop beating and the whole world, the whole universe, swirl away from him, leaving only her.

He'd calculated she was now in her forties although she didn't look a day over 30. Jack pulled a hand through his greying hair, glancing around the terminal at all the busy business men off to do business with some Aschen or other rich aliens. He pulled his fingers away from his hair. Of course he was now in his fifties and looked it. At least changing the past would mean browner hair, at least for a few years.

'_Yeah right!'_ The sadistic voice in Jack's head said as he frowned slightly.

'_Shut up! It's bad enough everyone else insults you, O'Neill!'_

'_They do not!'_

'_They do too! Haven't you noticed? God, I know I'm dense, but...'_

'_Hey, I'm talking to myself! Oh for crying out loud! I knew those damn ribbon devices would catch up with me one day!'_

Jack thoughts wandered back to Sam. He was glad Joe had made him promise not to let her help. He'd been planning to tie her up somewhere away from the gate anyway. He hadn't wanted her to die even though if their plan worked she wouldn't exist.

He remembered what she'd said to him at the cabin. They could change their past. He'd seen the underline meaning of her words. They could change what had happened to them and that was enough to have made Jack pinch himself. He wasn't blind although he was wondering if all those years alone had made him see hope in hopeless situations. He hoped she meant that they could be together.

When she'd arrived he'd seen the emotion still in her dazzling eyes that had made him want to sacrifice himself for her, over and over. Even when he was letting his anger and hurt go by trying to hurt her in return that emotion was still in her, never leaving or fading. She'd taken everything he'd said to her and he'd known that she thought she deserved it. She thought she deserved him hurting her for marrying Ambassador Joe, which gave Jack the idea that it wasn't exactly the perfect marriage. He'd been right...

'_There's that Irony again!'_

But he didn't find out the real reason until last night.

Jack hadn't realised that when she'd come to see him at his cabin, she hadn't told her not-so-beloved Ambassador about not being able to have kids. He hadn't known that all along that selfish bastard had made deals with the Aschen that no self-respecting person would make. And lying to Sam, lying to his own wife about it, when he obviously had known deep down that there was a possibility he'd condemned her, just like the rest of the planet. He'd taken away one of the things Sam had always wanted, and the thought sickened Jack.

'_I sure as hell wouldn't have done that to her...'_

He'd been sat in his hotel room in Washington when he'd got the call. It was alright for one of the cheaper hotels in Washington, but Jack never really had liked the Aschen décor. It was just so... dull and boring. If there were any two more fitting words for the Aschen they weren't in English and couldn't be translated from any other language!

He'd been sat by the window on the edge of his bed watching over the futuristic Earth the Aschen had created. The lights filled the dark night sky as he looked over the city buildings. There would be no chance of watching the stars due to the light pollution. Another reason he hated the Aschen.

'_Jesus! They even took my stars from me!'_

His cell phone had started ringing. It was a number he didn't recognise and so he'd answered cautiously.

"_Uh... who is this?"_

"_Jack. I'm so glad this is still your number," Sam's voice came from the earpiece. Jack could tell from just those few words that she was crying, about to cry or had already cried. _

_Another strange thing. Jack had hardly ever seen her cry. Barely ever. Sam was strong, a lot stronger than him, if the truth was to be known. He always turned to alcohol or suicide missions when his emotions became too potent. Sam didn't keep them bottled up, but she didn't let herself break down. She would use them constructively. If someone was stranded, she'd find a way to save them. If someone was hurt, she'd find a way to help them. If her heart had been broken, Sam had always turned to find a constructive way to fix it again. That was one of the infinite number of reasons he loved her..._

_From the earpiece, her choked voice spoke again, "It's Sam."_

_He spoke gently, "What's wrong?"_

"_I need to talk to someone. I don't want to disturb Daniel and Janet, it being their last night on Earth as we know it," he could hear her voice shaking gently and knew now that she was actually crying. That was always a bad sign._

_From the background noise Jack knew immediately she wasn't at home or in fact in a building. He spoke anxiously, "Where are you?"_

"_The park opposite the old café we came to." She gave a gentle sigh, "You remember. The one we came to that day before going to our ceremony, where you met my Dad..." _

_Her voice trailed away at the mention of her father and Jack decided he should continue, "The one with the yellow umbrellas?"_

"_Yeah," Sam said gently._

"_I'll be there in three minutes."_

He'd put down the phone and rushed out of the building straight to the transporter and transported himself to the nearest street. It had been an extremely odd experience as he'd never used one before and it had taken him a minute to shake off the slight dizziness and disorientation before he'd almost run all the way to the café. Sam had been right when she said 'old'. The place was nothing more than a rundown shack now.

_He looked at the dull lifeless stone of the building as suddenly colours flashed before his eyes and he could still see the yellow umbrellas, the brightly coloured sign and the blue sky of an early summer's day. He could still hear the children laughing as they played and their parents talking as they sat beneath the buttercup canopies sipping their iced lattes and reminiscing back to the days when they had been children._

_But now it was nothing more than a derelict home for tramps, not that there were many these days._

_He turned then to look at the park and there she sat. On a lone bench under a brightly glowing Aschen streetlamp amidst beautiful plants with small white flowers blooming._

_She looked so lovely in that instant and Jack felt his heart clench in his chest. How could he have ever hated her? How could he have been so stupid as to think he didn't need her in his life, in whatever shape or form? Now he couldn't have her in his life, the way he'd always wanted, and hadn't taken his chance to have that life 10 years ago. _

_He could see she was still crying as her bitter tears shone from the light that fell onto them and covered her cheeks with bright silver tear trails. By the looks of things she'd dressed in a hurry before coming here. Her hair was a mess, the buttons on her top were done up in the wrong holes and her skirt was twisted the wrong way. Not to mention she was still wearing pink fluffy slippers on her feet. She looked a mess in that respect._

_He walked over slowly and could hear her soft gasps and sobs as he approached. He spoke gently, "Sam?"_

_She looked up at him and hurriedly swiped away her tears. Without invitation Jack sat down silently beside her on the small wooden bench, one of the few that must still exist._

_After a few moments she spoke, her voice thick and her eyes refusing to stop tearing, "He knew."_

_Jack turned to her as he realised why she was crying. She looked at him and stared into his eyes as she whispered, her face contorting with pain, "He knew about the Aschen's 'Birth Control', but he was told it would only be a third of the true percentage."_

_She let out a shuddery sigh as she said her voice filled with anger, "He knew! All along! Just like the Aschen doctors, saying I was fine! Deep down he knew all along and he still tried with me! He still tried!" Her angry voice trailed away as she whispered, "My own husband sold the whole world out. Sold me out."_

_Tears continued to roll down her cheeks as her back began to shudder. She began to cry into her hands as Jack wondered what to tell the sobbing woman. He never was good at this! He placed a comforting hand on her arm as he murmured, "I'm sorry."_

_She turned to him as he spoke. She began to cry harder as she said sincerely, "Not as sorry as I am."_

_That was it. Within a second Jack O'Neill realised he was still as madly in love with her as he'd ever been. He needed her more than life itself and he'd let her leave with the man who had just broken her heart. He should've tried harder to make her realise how much he loved her, he should've fought harder for her, but he hadn't and now the woman he loved more than anything was suffering and he'd missed his chance at preventing it. Now all he could do was try to numb the agony she was feeling. To try and show he loved her enough to help her fix her life... if she wanted._

_He spoke gently as he held out his arms hesitantly, "Come here." She looked at him surprised and he saw slight relief in her eyes. He couldn't deny that he didn't know why she was relieved. She must have thought he still hated her._

_She let him hold her as she sobbed into his shoulder heartbrokenly and he gently rubbed her back holding her equally tightly..._

_All the time they sat there and ever since all Jack could think about were her words circling his mind._

"_Not as sorry as I am."_

He knew what she'd meant. She was sorry she couldn't have kids. She was sorry she'd married Joe. She was sorry she'd turned her back on him. And most of all, she was sorry she'd listened to Melon and the rest of his Aschen buddies...

"Colonel O'Neill?"

The voice shocked Jack and he turned to look at the person who'd greeted him, "Melon!"

The Aschen man frowned slightly as he corrected him, "Molem."

"Molem," Jack repeated.

'_Well done! You have only gone and called him 'Melon'!' _

He continued with an excuse, "I'm sorry. It's the war. Y'know."

Melon didn't seem to accept the excuse and continued, "You didn't come to the anniversary celebration."

Jack didn't like this guy's smarmy attitude. He spoke with contempt, "What's to celebrate I say."

"Surely the Aschen have proven your earlier misgivings erroneous for all we have done."

'_Yeah right!' _Jack thought to himself as he said, "Yes. You've certainly... done your part."

Melon spoke again a note of suspicion in his dull, lifeless, BORING voice, "What brings you here?"

'_Think of an excuse fast, O'Neill,'_ he thought as he spoke, "Uh... you know my friend, Teal'c..."

'_OK that's a good start. Now what?'_

"I missed him at the anniversary celebration. He's coming to town..."

'_Now finish it with a real stupid thing to say and he won't suspect a thing...'_

"... I bought him a hat."

The look on Melon's face proved he was just about ready to call security.

"Incoming Travellers from Chulak."

'_Phew! Saved by the Wormhole!'_

Jack looked at his watch as he murmured, "Right on time."

He looked down over the Gate area as Teal'c and his Jaffa companion stepped out of the Gate. He glanced at Daniel, who had just stepped through a metal detector. He muttered, "Archaeological equipment. This always happens," as he began to open the metal case which Jack knew had a Zat inside. Jack slowly moved his hand to his Zat and rested his fingers on it. He'd have to shoot Melon...

'_Thank you!' _He thought as he stared at the ceiling and showing his gratitude in to the Big Guy for making this possible, before turning back to the scene before him. Jack watched as the guard said to Teal'c, "I'm sorry, Sir, but no weapons are allowed."

"These are for ceremonial purposes only," the Jaffa explained.

"I'm sorry, but you will have to let me have it."

Teal'c in his usual fashion said, "As you wish," and shot the guy in the head.

It had begun. The Terrorist warning began to boom through the speakers as Melon said, "What's going on?"

Jack turned to him as the blue wave of electricity engulfed his body and he fell to the floor. Jack suppressed the grin that came to his lips and watched the people running past him, screaming, as they sprinted for the exits. Jack watched as Teal'c began to dial the Gate and the automated weapons systems kicked in, the small, but deadly shots shooting at the two Jaffa stood before the DHD.

When the wormhole exploded from the metal circle, he watched Teal'c's assistant collapse to the floor, dead. The weapons had killed him.

He watched as Teal'c and Daniel disabled a few more of the buggers, as he shot the zip wire across the room. He gave it a small tug to check it was secure before he clipped the handle over the top and grabbed on as he jumped from the banister and sailed down to the floor. He saw Teal'c fall and felt a determination he hadn't felt since his days in SG-1. An exhilarating feeling filled his senses. Who cares if he was about to die? At least he'd die in style!

It was while going down the zip wire that he began to feel the short painful zaps of the automated weapons as they hit him. He fell from the wire, the pain too great for him to hold on any longer. He groaned. He was SO not as young as he used to be...

'_Unlike everyone else!'_

The note was still clasped in his hand tightly. He had to get it through. He had to get the note through for Teal'c, Daniel, Janet, General Hammond, Earth and for him and Sam.

He began to crawl towards the gate. Each inch he moved he was shot a few more times. The pain was unbelievable. He was about to die, he knew it. He collapsed to the steps, he could go no further. His chin rested on the step as he stared at the open gate only feet away. In a final attempt, he pushed his arm forward, the bloodied note still lying in his open palm. That note was a symbol of everything Jack needed. A whole list of shoulda-woulda-couldas ran through his head. Maybe if this note got through that gate he and Sam could be together. Maybe, Janet and Daniel would still realise how much they loved each other. Maybe Hammond would never have had a 'heartattack'. Maybe life would've been so much better... if only he got this note through...

He lay there motionless and realised the weapons had stopped shooting him. So he lay completely still catching his breath although he knew he couldn't move forward.

He watched as Daniel tried his luck. The man ran for the gate, but also collapsed only a few feet from the event horizon after succumbing to the weapon system. As his friend fell, he knew immediately the man was dead.

There was now no hope...

"Turn off the system!" He heard Joe's voice yelling desperately, "NO!"

He then realised. He watched as a delicate hand picked the note from his blood covered fingers. Even the slightest brush of her skin against his was enough to make his whole body tingle and his heart to find a new strength, as he watched her run towards the gate. He saw the shots raining heavily on her back as she tripped, the note flying from her grasp and through the event horizon.

She landed on the steps and let out a cry of relief, but also of pain. She stared at him for a second in surprise, before her head collapsed to the side and her eyes slid shut.

Jack was not going to let her die like this. With the last of his strength he pushed himself from the floor and ran up the remaining steps. He grabbed her near lifeless body and realised he was no longer being shot. The weapons had been switched off.

He looked up at the man running down the escalator before him followed by two scores of security guards, "SAM! Colonel O'Neill, don't you dar...!"

The last part of his sentence was chopped off as Jack stepped through the gate.

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The screwed up note bounced down the ramp as they all watched it in slight confusion.

They all ran down the steps and filed into the Gate room. They stared at the note as Colonel O'Neill took a few steps forward to pick it up when a figure stepped through the gate, carrying another in his arms.

On reaching this side, the man collapsed to his knees leaving the woman beside the gate as he crawled down some of the ramp towards them staring at the note before collapsing backwards relieved. The wormhole disappeared as everyone in the room began to stare at the two people lying on the ramp.

After a minute the man got to his knees again slowly. His hair was greyer and there were a few more lines etched on his face, but otherwise there was no doubt who he was.

He stared at them and then at Colonel O'Neill, who, whilst the visitor had been catching his breath, had taken the bloody note and was now holding it in his hands.

"Don't... uh..." Jack nodded to the note, still feeling the agony of the shots coursing through him. He glanced back at the blonde woman lying further up the ramp, as he sighed softly, "Just... give me a minute."

Colonel O'Neill looked at him confused as the man crawled arduously towards the motionless woman. He almost collapsed beside her. He sat up as best he could although by the looks of things it was near impossible due to the pain he was in. He leant over the woman slightly as he spoke softly, "Carter?"

The man let out a choked sob as he said her name again shaking her shoulder slightly, "Carter? Wake up. Sam?" He groaned, "Ah crap. Don't be dead please. I didn't drag you all the way back here for you to die!" His voice seemed to fade away as he murmured, "There's so much I need to say."

The exhausted man stretched out a bloody hand covered in small burns to feel her pulse. She was still alive, but barely! He then glanced up at his self 10 years ago. The younger Colonel O'Neill was watching with shock and slight trepidation. Jack was about to tell the man to read the note, but knew the moment their past selves read the note they would cease to exist.

So instead he turned back to Sam and gave a small gasp of relief to see her pale blue eyes staring up at him.

"Hey," she whispered.

He stared at her too happy to speak. He shook his head in wonder and then whispered in return, "Hey."

She spoke cautiously, her voice a croaky whisper, "We did it?"

He spoke feeling a small smile come to his face, although the burns on his cheeks hurt awfully, "You did it. If it wasn't for you... we never would've got that note through."

She smiled weakly, "I wasn't gonna let you guys have all the fun." He snorted slightly, but then his face fell as he what had just happened finally dawned on him. She spoke softly, "When I saw Daniel fall..."

"Please," he murmured, "Don't." She nodded slightly showing she understood and that she didn't particularly want to talk about it herself. After a moment of silence, he cleared his throat and nodded to the spectators all stood open mouthed, "We have company."

She moved her head so she could see them. They were all there. Daniel, Teal'c, Janet, Jack and herself. She stared at the last person stood before her and felt pain. General Hammond stared back at her in confusion. A small smile came to her face as she murmured, "Hey guys."

"Hi," Daniel said uncertainly as he watched them with utter shock. Well, it wasn't every day you heard you had just died in the future. No. Not the future. Hopefully, it would no longer be there future.

She spoke again gently as she looked at the General, "General. It's good to see you, Sir."

The man's eyes widened slightly as he murmured, "Uh... you too, Major."

"Lieutenant-Colonel," she replied with a small chuckle. She watched as her other self's face filled with surprise. She smiled gently at the woman and then turned back to watch the younger Jack.

He was gawping at them with an absolutely mind-boggled expression which was so typical of him. His eyes connected with hers and she couldn't help but smile slightly. Almost automatically his own lips curved into a tiny smile before it disappeared. She sighed softly and rolled her head back so she was looking up at her Jack.

He stared down at her anxiously. She knew the weapons had done their damage. She also knew that they would both die soon anyway, probably before they disappeared.

She spoke softly, "Jack, I'm sorry..."

He placed two bloody fingers on her lips as he murmured seriously, "That sounded awfully like the beginning of a 'goodbye' speech."

She spoke gently, tears in her eyes, "It won't be long now, Jack. We both know that." Her voice shuddered as she spoke, "And that was the beginning of an 'I'm sorry for everything that's took place and I hope that we can live through it and change everything that happened or didn't happen to us' speech."

She began to cry gently her breaths coming out in chokes, gasps and sobs as tears flowed down her cheeks, stinging the painful welts the weapons had left on her face.

Jack stroked some hair out of her face as he whispered kindly, "Hey. Don't cry again. You know I'm absolutely crap at dealing with this."

She gave a small laugh before she spoke despondently, between her soft gasps, "I can't help it." Her blue eyes fixed him still as a statue, "I hurt you and I lied to myself and to J-..."

Jack put a hand to her mouth again and raised an eyebrow. He tipped his head towards their former selves, "No names."

She nodded. She let out a shuddery breath, her watery eyes wide, as she whispered shell-shocked, "I still can't believe he knew all along. I can't believe he did that to me."

"No one should've done that to you, Sam. I... wouldn't have, but... it must have been a tough decision. He probably didn't think anything would happen to you."

Sam nodded softly, "He thought he was saving the World. It was the only way they were going to help us," Sam said, her voice filled with pain as she let out a small whimper, squeezing her eyes closed for a moment.

Jack stroked her tear and blood covered cheeks tenderly as he murmured, "It was wrong. He should've told someone. He should've told you, instead of making you go through that."

They sat in silence as Sam continued to cry gently, Jack wiping away her tears as gently as he could. He glanced up again as the younger Janet murmured to General Hammond, "Maybe I should take them to the Infirmary, Sir."

"There's no point," Sam looked at her hopelessly and spoke weakly, "Once you read the note, we won't subsist in your timeline anymore." She let out a small gasp of pain as salty tears continued to roll down her wounded cheeks.

Jack spoke guiltily, as Sam cried from every type of agony you could possibly get, "This is all my fault. I never should've left. I should've tried harder to stop you from..." He sighed unable to finish the sentence.

Sam shook her head, "None of this is your fault just like you said. Your conscience is clear."

Jack spoke, "So is yours now that we're gonna change everything." He sighed again softly as he spoke, "I understand why you thought Melon and his friends were our saviours, but... I was so angry. I left without thinking. None of you listened to me."

"You were right all along," she said her watery blue eyes gazing up at him as she murmured, "It's our fault for not listening. We should've listened."

"And I shouldn't have let him... take you."

The woman spoke sadly, "I didn't exactly put up much of I fight, did I?"

Jack stared at the moist eyed woman as he murmured, "No. No you didn't."

"It was just... nice. Someone showing a serious interest in me." She let out a shuddery sigh, "I never felt about him the same way he felt about me, but I still married him and tried to build a family with him." She spoke almost angrily, "I'm such an idiot."

"Well, there's a first time for everything?" Jack murmured, giving her a forced smile. She tried to smile back, but couldn't. Instead she stared at him as she let out another painful gasp.

Once the wave of pain had passed, she spoke softly between wheezy breaths, "Do you forgive me?"

"What kind of a question is that? Of course I forgive you."

"When you didn't contact us... I thought you hated me," she gave a shuddery sigh, "I betrayed you."

Jack frowned not only because he realised he had hated her and that in more ways than one she had betrayed him, but also telling her with his expression that what she'd just said was a load of crap!

"You did not betray me," he said forcefully. She looked away as if doubting his words. He sighed, "OK. So you picked Melon's side... whoop dee doo!" He gave her a comforting smile, "You didn't betray me and there is no way I could ever hate you!"

She smiled through her pain and tears, "I'm so glad." She stared at him as she murmured, "I never stopped, you know. Even with... him, I never stopped loving you."

The last statement rung in the air like a bell pealing out a sorrowful tune, the awkward silence in the room seeming to personify the words even louder. They'd spent 10 years, more than 10 years, of their lives away from each other pretending they didn't feel anything for each other. And now at the end of their existence they had less than minutes together.

Jack looked slightly embarrassed, but whispered back, "Yeah. I know." He frowned slightly as he murmured, "Neither did I, but... you became Mrs. Ambassador." He stared at her and then looked away, "You're a married woman, Sam."

She stared at him sadly, her eyes glistening as she let out choking breaths of pain and exertion as she lifted her hand. With the last of her energy, she pulled the rings from her bloody fingers and threw them as far away from her as she could.

Jack watched as the rings clattered down the ramp, glittering from beneath the blood that now painted them. They landed at the bottom of the ramp at Major Carter's feet. She looked up at him in confusion and then back at the rings eyes wide.

Jack turned back to the woman lying on the ramp before him as she sobbed, "Not anymore. He knew that after what he did... I could never forgive him. Even if we weren't... changing our past, I would've never spoken to him again."

Jack spoke shocked, "You're gonna throw away your marriage just like that?"

She nodded scarcely although her voice was strong, "Damn right I am." She spoke her voice hushed again, "Those years will never happen now. That's one reason I was ready to die to get that note through."

He felt a small smile come to his lips as he whispered, "God you have guts."

"So do you," she smiled back; "You were willing to die to change what happened, just as much as I was." She frowned slightly, "And therefore you must've had a damn good reason." She stared at him questioningly, "You didn't answer my question back at the SGC. When did you decide against getting a dog?"

He let out a small chuckle, "At my cabin." He sighed as his smile became small and sincere, "When you came to talk to me and told me what Melon and his cronies were up to, I knew we had to do something. The survival of the human race depended on it." He grinned, "What can I say? The Colonel can leave the SGC, but the SGC will never leave the Colonel."

"And we're walking," Sam murmured softly as Jack chuckled.

"I must say that experience will most definitely linger!"

"Not for long," Sam murmured depressively. She cleared her throat as she whispered hoarsely, "So that's why you want to change our past? You said that it wasn't your problem, which I suppose it wasn't really."

"No, I guess it wasn't," Jack chuckled, "But saving the planet has always been my problem, you know that." He let out a shuddery sigh and averted his gaze as he murmured, "Also, I don't ever want to know what life has been like these past years. I don't want those years to exist any more."

She nodded understandingly, "Neither do I."

He looked back at her as her hand moved to his. Her blood covered fingers slipped in between his and held his hand with as much strength as she could muster. He gripped her hand back as she sniffed tearfully "This is it."

He knew what she meant. She was about to die. The moment she did, he'd make them read that letter. He didn't want to begin to feel the grief. God, he loved her. The feeling overwhelmed him now as two words circled his head and compelled him even more to making damn sure those 10 horrible years were prevented.

What if?

She stared at him the same question in her eyes as if asking him to be with her for that last moment of her life. He glanced over her tear streaked face for a second, realising for the bazillionth time how amazingly beautiful she was. He gently stroked his free hand over her cheek before gently leaning forward and kissing her.

Å

Jack watched his older self glance back at the woman who'd just spoken. They both looked in bad shape and it was obvious to him that the older Carter, who didn't look older at all, was about to die.

He noticed the woman's bloody fingers clasping the man's equally wounded hand as she cried almost fearfully, "This is it."

The man's eyes filled with pain as the softly crying woman stared up at him with those beautiful blue eyes, with an expression in them Jack wished would be aimed at him.

It was then his older self kissed her. Jack felt his own heart clench slightly at the sight. The woman murmured softly, "I'm so sorry, Jack. I'm sorry," as the man continued to kiss her softly. After a moment that seemed to stretch an eternity he pulled back.

Jack could feel the whole room's gaze avert from the couple on the ramp for a moment and fix on him and Carter stood next to each other. He prayed he didn't look too embarrassed or guilty or... something!

All the eyes looked back at the dying people on the ramp and fixed on them as Jack's future self stared down at the woman as he whispered, "Not as sorry as I am."

The phrase seemed to have an unexpected effect on woman. A sad smile came to her face as she continued to cry and murmur barely louder than a breeze, "Night Jack."

They were her last words. The woman's eyes closed and her body stopped moving completely. Jack watched as her slender fingers, slippery with blood, slid from the fingers of the man who was holding them gently.

"Sweet dreams, Sam," Jack replied feeling his once broken heart finally whole again as the voice in his head murmured, _'Thank you Samantha Carter for fixing my heart yet again.' _

He sat staring at her broken body for a few minutes unmoving and pensive before glancing up at them. The people he'd rather die now than put them through what they'd been through. He'd rather take his chances with fighting the Goa'uld than making an alliance with the Aschen! He caught Younger Jack's eyes and sent him a silent message as he murmured, his voice husky and grief-stricken, "Read it. Quickly."

Jack unfolded the scrap of paper as he read out to the rest, "Under NO circumstances go to P4C 970. Colonel Jack O'Neill."

He looked back up at the man as he nodded gravely and then murmured, "Don't make the same mistakes we did kids. None of you will like it."

"What?" Jack asked confused.

The man smiled sadly and tapped the side of his nose as the room filled with light and the two figures disappeared.

Å

Sam sat in her quarters staring at the rings she'd smuggled from the Embarkation room. When their 'future' selves had disappeared in that blinding light, she'd grabbed the rings from the floor and placed them in her pocket. She'd cleaned them up and now they sparkled brightly in the palm of her hand. She wondered who she'd been married to because it obviously hadn't been Jack, which had been a surprise.

'_Dammit! Stop calling him Jack! He's Colonel O'Neill! Your CO!'_

She groaned slightly. The conversation that had passed between her older self and the Older Jack was stuck in her head and confusing her. It seemed like 'Samantha' had taken control of her mind and was telling her it to her straight...

'_You're in love with your CO, Doofus!'_

All she seemed to have understood was that she had married some other Ambassador guy, betrayed Jack for Melon (obviously one of Jack's nicknames for people whose real names he couldn't remember) and Melon's friends, who she guessed were aliens, that they'd both rather die and get a note through than live and face whatever horrible existence they'd left, that he (she assumed he was her future husband) had known about something all along and betrayed her, that whatever it was she was willing to die to change it, that even when married she'd still been in love with Jack and, the thing that played on her mind the most, he loved her in return.

When they'd kissed, Sam had felt like her heart was breaking, but also serious embarrassment. They already got enough stick from everyone on base and now she assumed they'd been the gossip for the next few years!

She couldn't forget the look in her older self's eyes as she'd stared up at the man she loved. And boy had she loved him! It was worrying how intense that expression of love in her older self's eyes had been. Whatever her older self had done in the past... future... whatever she'd done she hadn't and never would forgive herself and Sam assumed from the conversation that Jack hadn't spoken to her for a long time before they needed to change their future.

She sighed and still staring at the rings, dropped them into the plain white envelope. Now she had them she didn't really know what to do with them! She sealed the envelope and then pushed up off the bed. She had no idea what to do so she thought what her future self would've wanted done with them. Sam shuddered at the thought that as far as her 'future' self had been concerned she could throw them in furnace!

Sam wanted to destroy them. She'd seen the hatred in the woman's eyes as with the last of her diminishing strength she wrenched the rings from her gory finger and threw them as far away from her as she could as if they were scalding to the touch.

She stared at the plain envelop for a moment before sealing it and placing it in the bottom of her drawer as there was a hesitant knock on the door. She closed the drawer swiftly and sat down on the bed as she said, "Come in."

After a second the door opened slowly and an awkward looking Colonel leant into the room, "Hey Carter."

She sprung from the bed and stood stiff as a board at the sound of his voice, "Hi Sir."

He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He gazed at his boots as if they were suddenly the most interesting things in the whole universe. After a few seconds he managed to mumble, "How are you?"

Sam spoke gently, observing him, "I'm OK. You?"

"OK, I guess."

They stood in an awkward silence as she watched him and he watched the floor. He obviously had something he really wanted to say, but didn't have the guts to. After what felt like hours, Jack cleared his throat and murmured, "He told us not to make the same mistakes they did."

Sam stared back wondering what to say. His eyes remained firmly averted from hers. She could see that the conversation that had passed between their future selves was just as heavily weighing in his mind as it was in hers.

She could hear the silent question in his voice. Even though he wasn't looking at her, there was a slight desperation in his eyes, as he waited for a reply.

She spoke quietly, "I hope we don't."

His face relaxed slightly and she could see a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he murmured, "Me too." She stared at him again for a few seconds before she dropped her gaze with a soft sigh. He cleared his throat again with a small cough before he murmured, "I'll... uh... see you at the briefing tomorrow."

She nodded gently as he opened the door slowly. She felt herself jump from the seat, feeling her heart pounding in her chest as she said, "Night Jack."

His gaze, which had been firmly lowered and avoiding her throughout the whole conversation, suddenly met with hers. The emotion in his eyes almost bowled her over backwards. She held his stare for as long as she could as he just gazed back at her in surprise.

He turned back to the door and with his back facing her whispered, "Sweet dreams, Sam." With that he stepped out of the door closing it gently behind him.

Sam's legs buckled from beneath her as she collapsed back onto her bed. Things were never going to be the same again... Sam closed her eyes and smiled as she said gladly, "Good."

FINIS

Yet more Author's Note: For any of you who have just finished and are considering suicide, I apologise, but I had it under good authority that this is a good 'un! For all of you thinking, I HAVE to talk to the writing genius (or maybe unintelligent slug) please send me some Feedback. Even if you think none of these things, send me feedback anyway! Thanks again!


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